![]() You can count the jokes that work on one hand the rest is pratfalls and predictability. Jon Lucas and Scott Moore, who also were behind the overbearing “Four Christmases,” wrote the screenplay Mark Waters, who’s enjoyed better material with the Tina Fey-scripted “Mean Girls” and the 2003 remake of “Freaky Friday,” directs. Oh, no - this is a wholly creative enterprise. You’ve also seen “Ghosts of Girlfriends Past” before, in countless variations of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” But you won’t see Dickens credited anywhere here, even though the plot finds McConaughey, as playboy photographer Connor Mead, reluctantly revisiting the myriad women he’s wronged with the ghosts of girlfriends past, present and future as his guides. (Jennifer Garner stands in as the voice of reason this time.) You’ve seen McConaughey in this kind of role before, usually with Kate Hudson as his co-star. ![]() This one, as it turns out, doesn't stand a ghost of a chance of sticking with you for very long after you watch it.Īrts and entertainment editor Lana Sweeten-Shults can be reached at or follow her on Twitter at trn_next.You will be shocked - shocked! - to learn that in “Ghosts of Girlfriends Past,” Matthew McConaughey plays an arrogant womanizer who coasts on his looks and charm but eventually realizes that love does matter after all.Ĭall it laziness, call it finding your niche. Still, with all these fun elements, this forgettable movie is one of those call-it-in type films with fairly shallow characters, not enough emotional content and a simplistic ending that doesn't leave you believing that someone as clueless as Connor Meade can actually change. Garner is charming, but her character never quite connects with the audience since McConaughey's Connor hogs the screen. ![]() Noureen DeWulf as Connor's intense assistant (she has an affinity for slapping him around) is funny, too.Īnd the film does offer some genuinely touching moments, such as when Paul defends his big brother, the one who raised him after their parents died. His seating chart, built like a miniature battlefield, is hilarious. "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past" has a few things to recommend it, namely interestingly odd characters, particularly smarmy Uncle Wayne in his sunglasses and polyester suit, and Robert Forster as Sandra's dad, Sgt. It's at Paul's wedding that Uncle Wayne's ghost visits Connor and tells him that three more ghosts will visit him that evening to teach him the error of his love-hating ways. That's when Connor turned to Uncle Wayne to teach him his womanizing ways so his heart would never be broken again. Jenny is the woman he has always loved, but he has never allowed himself to get close to her since she broke his heart in eighth grade. He previously romanced two of the three bridesmaids and has known maid of honor Jenny (Jennifer Garner) since they were kids. No one thought he would come since he hates the idea of marriage, weddings or anything having to do with love.Ĭonnor is already well acquainted with the bridal party. He arrives back home for his kid brother Paul's (Breckin Meyer) wedding to chipper-yet-emotionally-unglued fiancée Sandra (Lacey Chabert). Who else but Connor would break up with three women at once ? by conference call, no less. In the film, Connor Meade is an ultra-charming high-fashion/celebrity-type photographer who leaves a trail of emotionally shattered women in his wake. Still, "Ghosts" is a fairly predictable movie that lacks big emotional moments and isn't quite funny enough. And instead of the Ghost of Christmas Past, we get the Ghost of Girlfriends Past (she's 16, has frizzy hair and has a mouth full of braces).īesides the twist on the tale, the film gifts to us a particularly excellent cast and some characters with the potential to be hilarious. Instead of Marley, we get old-school, polyester suit-wearing player Uncle Wayne (a perfectly cast Michael Douglas). In this version, instead of the traditional Scrooge, we get Connor Meade (McConaughey), a cold-hearted womanizer who's a grump when it comes to love. ![]() "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past," written by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore, is an occasionally cute twist on Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol," except that it's not set at Christmastime, and the DVD wasn't released anywhere near the holidays. Thank goodness for "Tropic Thunder" and, to a lesser degree, "We Are Marshall." In the romantic comedy realm, McConaughey is stuck in a rut, and it's a shame, too, because he screams romantic leading man. ![]() In his latest film, the uninspired, play-it-safe romantic comedy "Ghosts of Girlfriends Past," it's as if he just photocopied his last dozen or so unsatisfying, bland romantic comedies ? "Failure to Launch," "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days," "The Wedding Planner" ? and gave it a new title. Ever since that naked bongo incident, things haven't been quite the same. ![]()
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